Off Deadline

CORBIN — When the railroad industry left Corbin, the city’s proximity to two national parks and several state parks and lakes moved the city to a more tourism based economy.
One of the more famous tourist sites is Cumberland Falls State Park.
Cumberland Falls Park Program Supervisor Bret Smitley said that the the park had an interesting road to becoming a state park.
“Mr. Thomas DuPont and his family stepped in and offered on several occasions to purchase the property... Read more

Hurricane Harvey is causing Kentucky drivers to see an uptick in gas prices before Labor Day weekend as oil refineries in the Gulf Coast shut down due to the storm.
Business Insider reports that the largest oil refinery in the U.S. shut down on Wednesday due to increasing local flooding. The refinery had already decreased production by 60 percent on Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle.
AAA shows that the current average price per gallon for regular gas... Read more

*UPDATE: Despite being packed up and ready to go, a Lexington Fire Department water rescue team will no longer be needed in Texas.
According to Mayor Jim Gray’s office, the crew received a call to assist victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. However, while waiting to leave Kentucky on Wednesday, they received word that too many relief crews were activated. They will now return to standby status.
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A rescue team from the Lexington Fire Department has been deployed to Texas to... Read more

WILLIAMSBURG — While the city of Williamsburg has been home to the University of the Cumberlands since 1889, the relationship between the city and town is something that current Mayor Roddy Harrison wishes could be better.
Harrison is currently meeting with university officials to form better partnerships between the city and its citizens and the university and its students.
“For so long we had the idea that the college stopped at the railroad tracks and the city went on, and it was... Read more

CORBIN — The city of Corbin has moved from being a regional railroad center to its current status as a small-scale industrial center and tourist stop.
Nestled at the foot of the Cumberland mountains, Corbin has not seen the severe population decline that has hampered other communities in eastern Kentucky.
Mayor Willard McBurney says his city has partnered with surrounding counties to establish a place that will attract businesses which, in turn, will provide jobs to the areas citizens.
“We have a six-county... Read more

BURLINGTON — As Northern Kentucky continues to be the epicenter of the heroin epidemic in the state of Kentucky, there are tools that are being made available, many for the first time, to fight opiate addiction in the region.
Last week, Aetna and area officials announced that 720 doses of Narcan would be made available to emergency personnel to help prevent opioid-overdose-related deaths.
Another factor that is helping to fight the epidemic is that more and more people... Read more

The Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron is sending 18 airmen to assist with rescue efforts in Texas, which has experienced massive flooding in Houston and the surrounding areas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
At least five people are dead in the aftermath of the hurricane, and the Kentucky squadron will help those who remain trapped by floodwaters.
The group deployed to Fort Hood, Texas, Sunday evening, according to a news release.
Fourteen of those deployed will be... Read more

Editor’s Note: This is part two in a three part series on confronting food scarcity. Part One can be viewed here.
On Thanksgiving Eve in 1969, nine-year old Bobby Ellis died of malnutrition in Louisville. The next morning, people across the region picked up their copy of The Courier-Journal and read how social workers found Ellis in bed weighing only 20 pounds.
As Dare to Care Food Bank’s Stan Siegwald explains, the tragedy mobilized a community and... Read more

BURLINGTON – First responders in northern and eastern Kentucky will have some extra help in fighting the opioid epidemic thanks to a partnership with Aetna which has donated 720 doses of Narcan to emergency personnel in the northern Kentucky and Appalachia regions to help prevent opioid overdose-related deaths.
Aetna Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hal Paz, says that his company’s all in in helping first responders who encounter overdose cases to save as many lives as possible.
“Providing... Read more

SOUTH UNION – The 2017-18 school year marks the 10th anniversary for The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
The junior and senior high school residential academy was established to allow gifted and highly motivated junior and senior Kentucky high school students to live, study and do research on the Western Kentucky University campus.
Gatton, which is always ranked as one of the top high schools in the nation, started with 120 students,... Read more